A Captain's View
by Tressa
Summary: Tezuka's view of Ryoma before and after he meets the young prodigy.


Title: A Captain's View

Author: Tressa

Rating: K

Summary: Tezuka's view of Ryoma before and after he they meet. AU.

Authors note: I realize that this isn't exactly canon. Hence the AU. I did tweak a little of the background, but it eventually merges into the regular canon.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Prince of Tennis or the characters within. They belong to Konomi-sensei. This is not for profit and is purely for the love of the show.

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"Echizen Ryoma?"

While the family name was familiar, the actual person whom his coach was referring to was not. And there was something strange about the almost elated smile that was on her face as well.

"Yes," she said enigmatically. "It appears as though he will be coming to Seigaku after all." She waved an envelope in his hand.

"Ryuzaki-sensei," he broke in, interrupting her small celebration. "May I ask as to who this Echizen Ryoma is?" The question that was really on his mind was whether or not this new club member was in any way related to the famous Samurai Nanjiroh. He didn't think his coach would tell him, though. And he was right. Instead, the older woman tossed him a magazine.

"You can read about him in here," she said instead. "Take a look at it and tell me what you think." She leaned back in her chair. "Though I have a feeling that you'll wait till he actually gets here to make a final conclusion."

Nodding slowly, he retrieved the magazine from the desk. In striking red letters was the title American Junior Tennis. On the cover was a boy. Asian features were schooled into a blank expression as his racket connected with a tennis ball. Dark hair was matted down with a white baseball cap. The magazine was in English, but Tezuka understood enough to read the caption below.

_Tennis prodigy Ryoma Echizen, wins another US National Junior Championship!_

Tennis prodigy? Interesting. Bowing respectfully, he left her office to return to the courts. When he asked about this new member, he didn't expect her to toss him a magazine for an answer. That in itself was statement. He was on the cover of a magazine. For winning a national championship. And apparently it wasn't his first time.

After practice, he returned home and went directly to his room. Taking his English dictionary, he sat down at his desk and opened up the magazine.

It appeared as though tennis was tennis no matter where the location. The article, though, was interesting in itself. It was the first line that caught his eye: _The Prince of Tennis has done it again._ Prince of Tennis. Tennis no oujisama. Interesting choice of title. His mind quickly recalled some of the top players in middle school tennis. Sanada Genichirou, the Emperor. Atobe Keigo, the King. Yukimura Seichii, the child of god. If this Echizen Ryoma came here, he'd be another member of royalty among royals. He continued reading.

_The Prince of Tennis has done it again. After capturing three National Junior Championships, the twelve year old tennis prodigy once again blew by the competition, impressing everyone of all ages with his twist serve._

Twist serve? Interesting. And a twelve year old at that. He'd be a freshman. He wouldn't be eligible to participate in the ranking matches.

_Never has the country seen a genius like this young man. Raw talent that has been honed and worked, it would not be a surprise at all if the tennis world were to see this young man go professional and sweep the Grand Slam tournaments._

Tezuka raised an brow at this. If it hadn't been the article stating that, he might have thought it rather presumptuous. Sweep the Grand Slam tournaments. America certainly thought rather well of their 'prince'.

He continued reading the article, consulting his dictionary when necessary to understand what was being said. The article made this Echizen out to be a diamond in the rough. Which, he might very well be. Tezuka wasn't about to make any judgement calls, however, till he'd seen the younger boy play. Even then, he wasn't entirely convinced of the skill of Echizen Ryoma. Just because a magazine stated one thing didn't necessarily mean that was the bare facts. Nothing could compensate for seeing. He finished reading the article, before flipping it to the front cover. Sharp gold eyes stared at him from under the hat. Logging on the internet, he quickly searched "Echizen Nanjirou" and selected a link that brought up pictures of the famous pro-player. Grabbing the magazine, he held it up to the computer monitor and compared the two. There was nothing in the article that stated that Echizen Ryoma was the son of Echizen Nanjiroh. There was no mistaking the physical similarities, though. And nobody really knew why Echizen Nanjiroh quit tennis.

The website did give the year when he didn't show up for his match and defaulted. Mentally, he calculated the year Echizen Ryoma was born. While not a perfect match, again, they occurred rather close together.

He wasn't about the jump to any conclusions yet. But he was almost certain that Echizen Ryoma was the son of the famous Echizen Nanjiroh. If he were Inui, he'd say there was a 75 chance or something along those lines. Enough that if he were a gambling person, which he wasn't, he'd definitely take those odds.

Either way, in the end, he supposed it really didn't matter. He wasn't going to treat him any differently. He would still be a freshman. He wasn't going to let him into any ranking matches on parentage alone.

A week later, as he was standing by a window in the school, he watched as Echizen Ryoma took on some of his senpai. It was not difficult to note the arrogance and confidence in his ability. It wasn't difficult to see that his arrogance had some basis; he was as talented as the article had said. But from the building, as he watched, he could sense something lacking. He was talented. He was a prodigy. But his movements seemed automatic, almost robotic. As though he was playing just to play. He recalled Ryuzaki-sensei smiling another smile and hinting that he would be a handful.

Handful wasn't quite the word. It made Tezuka a bit uneasy watching Echizen play. While outstanding, it was devoid of any life. Any enjoyment. He didn't know why the younger boy played tennis, but he had an inkling enjoyment wasn't at the top of his list. Enjoyment at beating others, yes, but still . . .

It was the same issue that plagued him when deciding the blocks. Would he allow a freshman into the ranking matches? Oishi and Ryuzaki-sensei seemed to think he should. They weren't being very subtle about their opinions either. Tapping his pen against the paper, he continued to struggle with his decision.

It wasn't till the Fudomine match when he watched their newest regular battle it out with Ibu Shinji did he finally made his conclusion as to who exactly Echizen Ryoma was. While he certainly was different from most people he met, there was one thing that was clear.

Echizen Ryoma's playing style, the one that was lauded in the magazines and awed over by players in the Kantou region, was a only a copy of Samuari Nanjiroh. He was simply copying his father.

His opinion stopped there and he began to formulate ideas of what he could do to work with the younger boy when an unexpected injury stopped everyone in their tracks. Echizen's eye lid was bleeding profusely. It made perfect sense to pull him out. Oishi was fretting over the younger boy as he tended to the wound. It seemed like it was the end.

Until Echizen demanded to be put back in the match.

After a brief verbal exchange with Oishi, Tezuka and Ryuzaki-sense relented. With a exasperated, "Ryoma", their coach bandaged his eye. Tezuka, in turn, gave him a ten minute window in which to end the match.

He wasn't surprised when Echizen won the match. He wasn't surprised that he had managed to beat his opponent in the short amount of time he had been allotted. What surprised him was that Echizen demanded to be put back in. He still didn't know the boy too well. He was a mystery that was waiting to be solved. But in that match, he saw a glimmer of something. Something that he could work with. But he needed to draw it out.

His decision was made. Echizen would serve as the next Pillar of Seigaku. He just hoped he'd be able to get the boy to realize it. This match with Fudomine held a glimmer of hope that it might be possible. And he would start by showing the younger boy his tennis.

As captain, he would not leave Seigaku without it's pillar of support.


End file.
